Monday, September 13, 2010

Guest Mix Installment #1: Ryan McRyhew

This is the first in a series of mixtapes by friends and fellow creative minds. First, a little bit of background on the author of the mix. Ryan McRyhew is one half of the electronic dance duo Hideous Men, who seem to be spearheading a fresh direction in the arena of DIY music. For some reason I haven't been able to catch them live although they reside in Denver and play out on a regular basis. Their equipment was stolen at the recent Titwrench Festival a couple of months ago, but they are bouncing back and working on material for a new cassette and a split 7". Ryan also runs the Laserpalace label which has been releasing like-minded DIY dance-troniks for the past few years.

I asked Ryan to do a mix for the blog because I knew he was into early electronic music as well as newer synth-based bands. Its nice when someone makes you a mix and there's artists on there that you know(in this case Demons, Raymond Scott, Mort Garson, Morton Subotnick), as well as digging deeper into realms unknown. Its a well-balanced mix of past and present musics, and well-worth your time if you have any interest in synth/electronic based sound. He offered this explanation of the mix:

"Regarding my endeavors, i'm very much interested in the concepts of music and art existing in other dimensions, humans being the contact points for translating those dimensions. Especially within the synth/electronic realm, sort of a ghost in the machine idea. I'm also into building electronic music devices to communicate with those ideas, and very interested in modular synthesis. I've been recording a release based on these ideas for a while now, looking to release it on cassette in october. It's a cross between the paranormal and synthetic realm. Outside of the more esoteric, i just love meeting people and trying to experience what they experience through music, i love mixes. DIY and community keeps it altogether for me. Hope that gives you a little more insight. Really the mix was just synth music that inspired me, with a little bit of flow, but mostly just songs that I think people should listen to."